SworkIt is a workout-on-demand app that has a wide range of exercises you can do just about anywhere, with no equipment. Videos of each move and audio coaching lead you through each session. You can work out to premade routines or design your own. It's not the most advanced workout-on-demand app, but it is very good and ranks among the best fitness apps.

PriceThe SworkIt app is free to download for both iOS and Android. There is a free version anyone can use, and an in-app upgrade to a Premium account costs $2.99 per month, a very reasonable price compared with you have to pay for other premium fitness app memberships.

The free version of SworkIt gives you access to workouts in the following categories: strength, stretching, cardio, pilates, and yoga. The workouts don't require any equipment, though you'll probably be most comfortable with a mat and a pair of sneakers. When I looked through all the possible exercises, I found one or two that used a chair, but it's easy enough to avoid those moves if you don't have a chair on hand.

As you work out, you see video demonstrations of each move and get verbal instructions and cues to coach you along. While you can build your own custom workouts and save them, you're limited to only three. As a free member, you also see ads in the app from time to time.

Premium members get an ad-free experience, the ability to save unlimited workouts, and some special exercises, such as low-impact workouts for people with injuries or other physical concerns. Premium members can also ask personal trainers questions by messaging them within the app.

As mentioned, the price is very good when you compare it with what the rest of the fitness app market charges. FitStar, for example, runs $7.99 per month or $39.99 per year for Premium. Another popular fitness tracking app, Strava, costs $6 per month or $59 annually for a Premium membership.

One of my favorite workout-on-demand apps (and it's a lot tougher than SworkIt) is Touchfit: GSP, which costs only $9.99 for the year, but you have to pay $4.99 for the app itself.

As much as the price is more than fair, there is one app that is totally free and very much a direct competitor to SworkIt: the Johnson & Johnson Official 7 Minute Workout App. This is an Editors' Choice because it gives you just about everything you get from SworkIt, but for free. You can't ask trainers your exercise questions, but you can do premade workouts, customize your own workouts, get coached through the moves, and see an example on screen of the exercise as you're meant to do it.

SworkIt ExperienceI tried a quick 'Fit in 5' total body workout with SworkIt, with audio cues enabled, and it wasn't bad. The app had me do 30 seconds each of a variety of exercises, everything from step-touches to twisting abdominal crunches. I played the routine on my iPhone, but the app is also available on Android devices. While SworkIt does not have a Web app at this time, there is one in development.

In addition to trying SworkIt's workouts, I built my own custom routine, too, searching for exercises I wanted by keyword as well as scrolling through a list grouped by type, such as stretches, lower body strengtheners, and so forth.

When your routine is built, the default settings will have you perform each move for 30 seconds followed by a few seconds of transition. You can always skip the transition with a single button press if you're ready to jump right into the next move. Premium members can adjust these default times, but free members can't.

You can set a goal, such as working out for 30 minutes every day, and you can add a reminder so that the app delivers a notification each day to prompt you to get moving.

I like that the app is compatible with Apple Health, Google Fit, and the calorie-counting app MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is the best app for weight loss, in my opinion, and should definitely be used in conjunction with any workout app or fitness tracker if your goal is to lose weight.

SworkIt is very good, but it doesn't dynamically adjust to fit your fitness level, which is something FitStar and Touchfit do. With those apps, you rate how hard each exercise was for you to complete or whether it was too tough to complete at all, and the workouts automatically become tailored to your abilities. That way, you are challenged but aren't asked to do an exercise routine that's beyond your reach.

Johnson & Johnson's 7 Minute Workout app has a similar function, in which you rate each move on a one-to-five scale and tell the app how capable you are. Moving forward, it only gives you only exercises that are appropriate.

Workouts on DemandSworkit has a wide range of exercises for workouts on demand. It's a wonderful fitness app for those who like to build their own workouts or just want to get a quick workout into their day. I still recommend Johnson & Johnson's 7 Minute Workout and Touchfit: GSP first, but SworkIt is a solid app to explore if you're not a fan of these other options.

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Jill Duffy is a contributing editor, specializing in productivity apps and software, as well as technologies for health and fitness. She writes the weekly Get Organized column, with tips on how to lead a better digital life. Her first book, Get Organized: How to Clean Up Your Messy Digital Life is available for Kindle, iPad, and other digital formats. She is also the creator and author of ProductivityReport.org.
Before joining PCMag.com, she was senior editor at the Association for Computing Machinery, a non-profit membership organization for...
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